Senior Staff / Principal Machine Learning Engineer - Autonomy Behaviors
- Salary
- USD 340,000 - 492,000 / per-year-salary
- Level
- Principal
- Work type
- Hybrid · Foster City
Not stated in the posting: visa.
Open. First seen 22 October 2026.
About the role
The Autonomy Behaviors team is responsible for producing our vehicle’s driving trajectory. As a Principal ML Engineer, you will lead the technical development of machine learning algorithms for our next-generation ML Planner. Your impact will range from delivering innovations for immediate milestones to pioneering exploratory projects.
You will collaborate closely with teams specializing in Foundation Models, Perception, Simulation, and Safety Validation, in influencing our autonomy stack. Your role will look at problems in a way that crosses team boundaries to prototype new approaches that influence the long term technical direction of multiple organizations within the company.
In this role, you will:
- Set the technical direction of ML development for the future of our Planner
- Push the frontiers of imitation learning, reinforcement learning, and model scaling to develop new ML models for our onboard Planner
- Identify and drive force-multipliers for ML development, including metrics, data, and training frameworks
- Develop new methods to leverage Zoox’s Foundation Models into the ML Planner
- Provide technical mentorship to the broader group of ML developers at Zoox
- Collaborate with engineers across Autonomy Software, Simulation, System Design and Mission Assurance, and other departments to solve the overall Autonomous Driving problem in complex urban environments
Qualifications
- BS, MS, or PhD degree in computer science or related field
- Proven track record of technical leadership in large-scale AI organizations
- Significant experience with training and deploying Deep Learning models to production
- Fluency in C++ or Fluency in Python with a basic understanding of C++
- Extensive experience with programming and algorithm design-Strong mathematics skills, 10+ years of experience
Bonus Qualifications
- Conference or Journal publications in Machine Learning or Robotics related venues
- Prior experience with Prediction and Planning for autonomous vehicles
About Zoox
Zoox is developing the first ground-up, fully autonomous vehicle fleet and the supporting ecosystem required to bring this technology to market. Sitting at the intersection of robotics, machine learning, and design, Zoox aims to provide the next generation of mobility-as-a-service in urban environments. We’re looking for top talent that shares our passion and wants to be part of a fast-moving and highly execution-oriented team.
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Zoox's standard text
Accommodations
If you need an accommodation to participate in the application or interview process please reach out to accommodations@zoox.com or your assigned recruiter.
A Final Note:
You do not need to match every listed expectation to apply for this position. Here at Zoox, we know that diverse perspectives foster the innovation we need to be successful, and we are committed to building a team that encompasses a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and skills.
What this role asks for
Particular to this role
Deep Learning
Rare in Zoox's other 182 open postings.
Standard for data science / ML roles
Python
Common in data science / ML postings at any company.
In most of Zoox's ads
Machine Learning
Named in most of its open postings, whatever the role.
83% of this description is written for the role. The rest is Zoox's standard text, folded away below.
Compared with Zoox's other open jobs.
The team: Autonomy Software HIRES STEADILY
This role is one of 36 open in Autonomy Software. 5 were posted in the last 30 days and the oldest in February: a team that hires all year rather than one being built.
WHAT THE TEAM WORKS WITH, ACROSS ITS POSTINGS
Machine Learning (32 of 36), C++ (22 of 36), Python (17 of 36), Computer Vision (12 of 36), Deep Learning (9 of 36), CUDA (6 of 36), LLM (5 of 36)
OTHER ROLES ON THIS TEAM
- Senior Technical Program Manager - Verification and Validation posted Oct 7
- Manager, Technical Product Management – Autonomy Integration posted Oct 2
- Software Engineer - Planner GPU Compute posted Sep 27
- Senior Software Engineer - Planner GPU Compute posted Sep 25
- Senior Manager, Perception Data posted Sep 23
- Data Scientist - Perception Verification and Validation posted Sep 9
- Software Engineer - Collision Avoidance System Metrics posted Sep 3
- Senior Staff / Principal Software Engineer - Freeway Autonomy posted Aug 31
- Senior Software Engineer - Mapping Web posted Aug 28
- Senior/Staff Technical Program Manager - Autonomy Behaviors posted Aug 24
- Senior Machine Learning Engineer - Perception 3D Segmentation posted Jul 17
- Senior Full-stack Engineer - Mapping Web Services posted Jul 7
- Senior/Staff Software Engineer - Machine Learning & System Optimization posted Jun 30
- Software Engineer - Mapping Data Software posted Jun 18
- Senior/Staff Software Engineer - Planner Frameworks Pipeline posted Jun 16
- Software Engineer - Planner Frameworks Pipeline posted May 12
- Software Engineer - Driving Behavior posted May 12
- Principal Software Engineer, Perception Architect posted Apr 20
- Senior Data Scientist - Verification & Validation posted Mar 27
- Manager, Technical Program Management - Artificial Intelligence posted Feb 20
- Software Engineering Manager - Perception Occupancy posted Feb 3
- Software Engineer - Mission Planning posted Jan 9
- Senior / Staff Machine Learning Engineer - Behavior Models for Road Users posted Dec 17
- Senior / Staff Software Engineer - Motion Planning posted Nov 5
- Senior/Staff Technical Program Manager - Artificial Intelligence posted Oct 21
- Senior Machine Learning Engineer - Perception posted May 20
- Software Engineer - Road Network Tools posted Mar 25
- Software Engineer - Behavior Capabilities posted Dec 2
- Senior Staff Machine Learning Engineer - Perception posted Nov 12
- Software Engineer - Learned Trajectory Machine Learning Engineer posted Nov 7
- Senior / Staff Software Engineer - Learned Trajectory Machine Learning Engineer posted Nov 7
- Senior/Staff Software Engineer - Behavior Capabilities posted Jul 15
- Senior Staff Software Engineer - Perception & Sensing posted May 3
- Staff Data Scientist - Behavior Evaluation posted May 4
- Software Engineer - Motion Planning posted Feb 8
From the team and dates on Zoox's own job board.
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